Wednesday, June 09, 2004

According to the RRLP Dr. Martin Luther King has between 800 and 1000 memorials in his name while JFK has between 600 and 700. Ronald Reagan, easily one of the two most important presidents (if not the most important president) of the 20th century deserves as much.

1. Call your Governor and request that Friday, June 11 be declared an official day of mourning in your state.
2. Call you state legislator and request that he or she support resolutions honoring president Reagan, and supporting his image on the $10 bill.
3. Call your Senators and Congressmen and express your support for President Reagan on the $10 bill. The Capitol switchboard number is: (202) 224-3121.
4. Look for possible dedications in your area. Submit them to the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project website at http://www.reaganlegacy.org
5. Sign up for more information about the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project at the Americans for Tax Reform (the RRLP's parent organization) website at http://www.atr.org/join

I urge you to check the whole list out. It has a number of other suggestions - for people from Congressmen and Senators down to school board members.

Of course, the effort to put Reagan's Image on the $10 bill is not something new. As far back as February of 2001 the New York Times had an article on the effort.

The biggest supporter of Reagan-on-Rushmore is Grover G. Norquist, chairman of the Reagan Legacy Project and perhaps best known for persuading Congress in 1998 to rename Washington National Airport after the former president.

A new Rushmore face would take a similar act of Congress, and Mr. Norquist is spoiling for a fight soon. But, for now, he is pushing for a less uphill commemoration: putting Mr. Reagan on the $10 bill.

True, there's somebody already on the bill, Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of the treasury and the most prominent author of the Federalist Papers. But Mr. Norquist reasons that Hamilton being a member of a defunct political party, his partisans are easier to defeat. On the other hand, Andrew Jackson, of the $20 bill, was a Democrat and Indian fighter.

Not surprisingly, at least one commie bitch bureaucrat seem to think otherwise.

“Paper currency is never changed because of aesthetic consideration,” said Darlene Anderson, the spokeswoman for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. “Paper money is only changed to deter counterfeiting.”

Anderson noted that the image on a bill of any denomination hasn’t been changed for aesthetic reasons since 1929.

She's not that dumb though, and can probably see the writing on the wall.

“That’s not to say that it won’t happen,” Anderson said. “The main goal is to prevent notes from being counterfeited. So far, the secretary has the sole decision as to whose image appears on U.S. currency.”

I guess she hasn't read the constitution. Regardless, her opinons matter little

Norquist said he has discussed putting Reagan on currency or coinage with John Snowe, the secretary of the Treasury, as well as his predecessor, Paul O’Neill, and the director of the U.S. Mint and that all three had supported the idea.

Republicans aren't the only ones who will be supportive of this idea either.

Supporters recognize that now is a unique moment for them to achieve their goal, with the nation in general and lawmakers in particular, coming together in praise of Reagan and seeking a dignified way to memorialize him.

With Sens. John Kerry (Mass.) the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), the minority leader, Edward Kennedy (Mass.) and Charles Schumer (N.Y.) among many Democrats praising Reagan, a filibuster of the change — the only realistic way to beat it — is seen as unlikely.

Of course, one of the best reasons to switch Hamilton from the $10 has a very much firearms related tinge to it.

"Hamilton was a nice guy and everything, but he wasn't president," says Grover Norquist, who heads the legacy project as well as an influential conservative group called Americans for Tax Reform. "As a board member of the (National Rifle Association), I can also tell you that he was a bad shot."

More later. I'm leaving the office early today to watch the funeral procession up from the Lincoln Memorial.